


In a Blaze of Glory

by inuyashamunkey



Series: Bad Things Happen Bingo [8]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst and Tragedy, Angst with a Happy Ending, BACK AT IT AGAIN, BAMF Hunk (Voltron), BAMF Lance (Voltron), Blood, Blood Loss, Blood and Gore, Blood and Injury, Book 7: An Echo in the Bone, Brother-Sister Relationships, Concussions, Explosions, Explosives, Fire, Guns, Heavy Angst, Light Angst, Major Character Injury, Team Bonding, Team Voltron Family, Team as Family, bad things happen, decided there was nothing fluffy about this in the least, mostly angst very little comfort, sick, somewhat graphic depictions of injuries, was going to tag this with fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-02
Updated: 2018-12-02
Packaged: 2019-09-05 12:09:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16810312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inuyashamunkey/pseuds/inuyashamunkey
Summary: Lance and Hunk are taken unaware by a new Galran weapon and, in an unfortunate turn of events, Keith is the only one close enough to save their lives. Hunk is unable to move and Lance is prone, completely unresponsive. Keith was never prepared for something like this, never thought he'd be put in this position.But, hey.Lance did always say he wanted to go out in a blaze of glory.





	In a Blaze of Glory

**Author's Note:**

> Ha. Ha. Ha.
> 
> No, but actually I'm too sick to have made myself this sad. Share my suffering.

Pidge leaned back in her seat, propping her feet up and crossing her angles. Her finger twirled around the disk of the right speaker of her headphones as her lips moved silently over words that no one would have been around to hear even if she had verbalized them.

She was watching the screens in front of her like a hawk, ten different views that all needed her attention flickering on her screen. There were two in particular that needed her attention the most, however.

Her shoulders tensed as Lance went on the move, ducking out from behind the corner he had taken cover in and jogging through the purple-lit hallway, his bayard blaster poised in front of him. Pidge hesitated in taking her eyes off of his slowly advancing back, but a strange sound drew her to Keith's position.

Keith had engaged in battle with a galra sentry, taking quick steps forward to divert the sentry's blaster with his sword.

Pidge watched intently with her hand hovering over the button that would activate her mic. She'd say something the second she thought anything was off.

_"Pidge?"_ Hunk's voice was a whisper as it filtered through Pidge's headphones. _"I'm going in."_

Pidge did a quick scan. "Okay. There are going to be two sentries guarding the door to your left once you enter; be careful."

Hunk didn't respond but not a second later, Pidge saw a yellow mark on the bottom left corner of her screen. She watched Hunk slip past the waiting sentries and then let her eyes flicker back to the screen she had last seen Keith on. He wasn't there anymore and, with a quick scan, she realized he was completely out of sight.

She didn't know if that was worrying or not. Lance was still moving through the hallways carefully, jogging when he could and lying in wait when he needed to. Pidge thought with a small amount of pride that it was a huge difference from when they had first started with Voltron.

Pidge still cringed at the thought of Lance's first stealth mission. He had been clumsy and loud, not to mention unbearably cocky. His lanky limbs couldn't fold themselves in to hide like they could now and, though his shoulders were broader now, Lance could make himself seem smaller. Pidge knew it had taken a lot of practice and looking at him now, it had paid off.

_"Pidge?"_ Keith was standing in front of a door, the keypad that would unlock it glowing purple near his hand. 

"On it," Pidge said, her fingers flying across the keyboard as she began the override process to open the required door without informing the rest of the ship it had been broken into.

In just over a minute, there was the low whir of an air-compressed door releasing, opening in front of Keith. Keith muttered a quick expression of gratitude before slipping in, out of sight from the cameras Pidge had up. She started hacking into the cameras inside of that room but her attention was once more pulled away.

Four sentries were advancing on Hunk at an even pace. "Hunk, four approaching on your left, move away."

_"I can't,"_ Hunk hissed, _"there are two more coming from the other."_

Pidge cursed under her breath as she saw the two aforementioned sentries turning around the corner. She sat up halfway out of her seat, her mind racing as she tried to think of a way to get Hunk out of this. She looked at Lance's screen and saw that if he turned three more corners he'd be able to get the jump on the pair of sentries. If he did that, he and Hunk could take out the other four together.

"Lance, change in plans. Take a sharp left and speed up." Without a question, Lance changed course and moved from the careful, crawling jog he'd been keeping up to a brisk run.

_"What's going on?"_ Lance asked as Pidge directed him through another turn.

"Just behind the next corner there are two sentries gaining on Hunk, he's going to get caught in the crossfire between six sentries if you don't take them out," Pidge explained. Her breathing picked up as the sentries were barely ten steps away from Hunk. "Hurry, Lance."

Pidge could barely make out the change in Lance's expression as his steps sped up even more, determination clear in every move he made.

Pidge breathed an audible sigh of relief and slumped as she saw a flash of blue and white and, quick as a cobra, the blue paladin had struck down the sentries. "Move on around the corner to your right, Hunk is taking cover there and then there are four more sentries t-minus two seconds away from revealing him coming from his left."

Lance gave a quick nod and jumped around said corner, kneeling by Hunk with a quick, _"Hey, buddy."_

Hunk didn't have time to reply as the sentries finally made it around the corner. Hunk and Lance were in action before the sentries even had the chance to fully process their presence.

Hunk took the two closest to the wall while Lance went wide, taking the sentry farthest from himself, a decision that put Pidge on edge as the ones preceding Lance's target had seen it as the opening it was.

"Stupid..." Pidge mumbled as the Sentry shot at Lance's back but was thwarted by Hunk pushing another into him, sending the shot wild and taking out one of the wall lights.

Lance and Hunk quickly managed to incapacitate two sentries with little injury and moved on to the remaining two. They were too wrapped up in their fight to notice another sentry sneaking up behind them, an unrecognizable weapon in their hands. Pidge didn't notice until it was too late.

She jolted out of her seat, a scream on her lips as the extra sentry aimed the weapon at Lance and Hunk's backs. _"Watch ou--!"_

She barely managed to see Lance twirl around, horror on his face as the sentry's weapon set free a bright yellow light. She thought she could see Lance jumping at Hunk but she could do nothing as her screen was filled with static, a high-pitched ringing going through her speakers.

She tossed her headset down hastily to get away from the piercing sound and then sat back, staring at the white and gray screens.

"Oh my god," She whispered, realization slowly setting in. "Oh my god. Shiro! Shiro!"

~

Hunk didn't know how long he'd been lying there, enveloped in a staticky sort of pain with limbs he wasn't entirely sure were still in one piece twitching and sending painful jolts up his aching spine.

He moved his neck a little and stopped, a muffled groan sounding out of his throat. Something was wrong with his spine. He blinked his eyes open and there was a hand directly in front of his nose, making him instinctively flinch back which resulted in another flash of pain.

Upon further inspection, the hand was covered in a gray glove and he could barely make out the corner of a blue stripe coming out off the side of it.

"Lance?" He croaked. He shifted his shoulder, grateful that it was only sore and not as painful as the rest of him, trying to jostle Lance's limp weight thrown over him but Lance didn't shift at all. He didn't even make a sound and, pain be damned, Hunk nudged his shoulder a little harder with gritted teeth.

Still, Lance didn't move and Hunk looked as far as he could, trying to find where his helmet had gone. He needed to get into contact with the others. Quickly, if Lance was half as bad as Hunk thought he had to have been,

_If it hurts this much even after Lance shielded me, then what happened to him?_

Anxiety and adrenaline numbed his pain enough for him to slowly reach his arm up to where Lance's head was. His fingers tapped against something hard and Hunk noted that Lance's helmet had stayed on. He didn't want to remove it, didn't want to risk further injury to Lance, so he instead yelled, "Pidge!?"

He strained his ears for any type of response that would've filtered through the crack Hunk could barely feel in Lance's visor, but nothing came.

His mic must've been broken. Hunk wasn't one to curse; never had been, really, but he wanted to do nothing more in this situation.

The initial adrenaline started to fade and the zapping pains came back to him slowly. He let himself go limp, let himself hope that his team would come soon. He was helplessly aware of Lance's dead weight as his eyes slipped closed.

They had to come soon.

If only for Lance's sake.

~

There was a hand on his shoulder and a voice in his head that jolted him into consciousness with a bright, piercing pain. The weight on his back had been alleviated, he noticed, but he didn't think that the pain had lessened any despite that.

"Hunk, wake up, come on."

Hunk's throat was dry and dusty as he groaned under his breath and let his eyelids move, uncovering his eyes. "Keith?"

Keth looked relieved as he kneeled by his side. "Are you okay? Can you stand?"

Hunk tried to move his legs, just a little, and hissed. "No."

"Shit," Keith muttered, looking off to the side for a moment. "Okay, stay there, then. And stay awake."

Hunk didn't say anything as Keith stood and started talking, presumably to the team. "Hunk's awake, but he can't move." Keith paused and Hunk heard the shuffle of his feet move so he was standing behind Hunk. "Lance still isn't responding. How soon can Shiro be here? I don't know...I don't know how Lance will be if he isn't here soon."

_Lance?_ Memories came flooding back to Huk and he gave an involuntary jerk of his body, movement he regretted as soon as he did it. He moaned in pain.

"Hunk?" Keith was back in front of him, his hand on the back of his armor, "Stay still."

Hunk's eyebrows came together with desperate concern as he asked, "Lance?"

Keith's face dropped and be bit his lip. Keith looked off to the side once more, "He--it doesn't look good."

Hunk's heart stuttered in his chest and he brought an arm up, creaking and on fire, to rest on Keith's knee limply. "...Please."

Keith tried for a small, unpracticed smile but it came off weak. "He'll be okay. Just relax, help will be here soon."

~

Keith didn't know what to do. He was alone with two injured paladins that, for all he knew, could've been on their death beds.

Hunk had spoken to him briefly, begged him to keep his-- _their_ best friend alive, but he couldn't move and Keith worried about how extensive the damage to him was.

Lance was a whole other issue.

When he'd found them, Lance had been draped over Hunk with a hole taken out of the back of his armor, gaping and bloody. He'd expected him to be dead, feared that he would feel nothing when he put his ear to his lips.

Lance was alive, but barely. He was completely unresponsive and though he was breathing, it was scarce and barely noticeable.

Now Keith kneeled by Lance, taking off his armor per Coran's instructions. He was being as careful as possible not to jostle him though he knew he wouldn't feel it even if he was a bit rough.

"Okay, it's off," Keith said breathily into his mic.

_"Good, you're doing good, my boy,"_ Coran reassured him. _"Now, cut pieces off of his undersuit to cover the wound on his back, we need him to keep as much blood as possible."_

"Okay," Keith replied. He started doing as told, cutting off long strips of cloth with his knife and pressing them into the wound, grimacing as it made a squelching noise.

After he had put the cloth on, it only seemed as if it was soaking up blood that was already previously present, not gaining new spills. "Coran? I don't think he's bleeding. That...that's a good thing, right?"

It was silent on the other side for far too long. Keith didn't know what to make of it when Coran just said, _"Help is on the way, sit tight, you're doing well."_

"Keith?" Keith's head whipped around and he crawled over to Hunk.

"What is it?" He asked. _Please, god I can't deal with more problems._

Hunk's eyes were glassy but attentive. "Is...Lance?"

Keith swallowed harshly, Coran's words playing back in his head. He nodded. "He's okay."

A small, gentle smile came to Hunk face. "Good."

Hunk's eyes fluttered shut and Keith would've worried if it weren't for the slow rise and fall of his back, but as it was, Keith had more worries about Lance's condition.

Keith tapped Lance's cheek, something he'd been doing a lot in a futile attempt to get Lance to wake up. The skin of his cheek just sprung back and he laid motionless.

Keith glanced at his bandages for a second and then leaned back, quietly watching. He could do nothing but watch and wait and he had never been in a more frustrating situation in his life.

Time ticked by as fast as a shepherd herding sheep across the street, and Keith didn't know how many times he had found his eyes straying to Lance's chest, checking if he was still breathing.

Every time he checked, he saw the comforting movement of breathing, stilted though it may have been. It was comforting.

Until he looked and it had changed.

His chest rose, stuttered, dropped--stopped. Everything escaped him as he stared, waiting for Lance's chest to rise again.

It didn't.

Keith was scrambling toward Lance now, "No no no no," a mantra on his lips. "Coran, he just stopped breathing, what do I do!?"

Keith's hands hovered over Lance's still chest, unsure as to what he was supposed to do and too afraid to guess.

_"Stay calm, my boy, Number One has informed me of a human method of life-saving technique. He said to start compressions, do you know how to do that?"_ Coran said, blissfully calm.

"Uh--" _Sort of?_ Keith swallowed, looked at Lance' too-still face. "--Y-yes."

_"Do that and stay calm. Number One will be with you in just a tick, you just have to stay calm."_

Calm, right. He could do that. Keith steadied himself with his palms braced on Lance's chest, sticky with blood. He pressed down and flinched as he felt Lance's ribcage give. Keith hastily pulled away, his heart beating out of his chest. Gently, he moved his hand again and ran it over Lance's chest. It was concave.

His breathing picked up. "Coran?" He sounded hysterical. "Coran...I-I can't push down on Lance's chest I think--no, something is definitely broken in his chest... it just... _crumbled."_

_"Number One just landed. Is there bruising?"_ Coran said, not even making an attempt to reassure him this time.

Numbly, Keith pulled up the rest of Lance's torn undersuit and grimaced. It had just barely started bruising, but it dipped in a way no one's anatomy should. "There..he--" He couldn't manage to get his words out, he felt sick.

_"Number One is in the building, sit tight. It will be okay, my boy."_

Keith could do nothing but stare as Lance continued to lie there, still.

_Dead._

The word came suddenly, shocking.

_Dead._

Lance... _Lance was dead._

~

Pidge had begged to come with Shiro. Had pleaded her case as best she could, thinking that she could do something.

She couldn't. And she wasn't prepared for what she saw.

They skirted into the room, and the first thing Pidge saw was Keith kneeling by Lance's side, still and vacant as tears dripped down his cheeks. He looked up slowly, his expression crushing.

"Pidge..." Pidge had never heard his voice so defeated. She stepped in, noting that Shiro moved to Hunk's side immediately. She felt a modicum of relief when she heard Hunk's voice pipe up quietly in response to something Shiro said.

She took two steps and nobody stopped her. She kind of wished they had.

Memories from the Garrison came back to her in a flood. Lance grinning, his arm slung over Hunk shoulder as he tried to get her to stop ignoring him. Lance's face as milk spurted out of his nose at one of her jokes, completely overdramatic.

She had so many memories of Lance, loud but supportive, never without a smile. He was always a warm presence in her life, even when she was ignoring him in favor of others. Always strong, resilient, terribly kind.

Her brother, one of her best friends. He was always bright, never dull. Always so full of life with _so much_ to give to it, not... not still. Not like this.

She could see Keith looking at her as she came closer. She stopped, her eyes locked on Lance's bare chest. "Why...why does it look like that?"

"Pidge..." Keith said again, pained. His hand lifted between them as she thumped to her knees, crawling towards Lance's still body.

Her hand shook and her eyes were unblinking as she went to touch his chest, uneven and caved in-- _unmoving._

"He's...Keith, he isn't breathing," Pidge said. "He-he... _Keith."_

There was a hand on her shoulder, trying to coax her back, but she just leaned forward further. "He'll die...he'll _die_ if he can't breathe!" She whipped her head around to look at Shiro who was still kneeled by Hunk but was looking at them with tears in his eyes. "Shiro... he can't breathe."

Shiro didn't say anything in response but Pidge heard Hunk mutter something that had his tears dripping down his cheeks, his palm resting on Hunk's shoulder.

"Lance," She tapped his cheek, salty tears spilling over and onto his bloodied face, dripping off a brown color, "come on, this...this isn't funny." She sniffed hard. _"Please."_

"Pidge we--we have to go." Keith's voice was clogged but surprisingly steady. He put a hand on her shoulder but it was shrugged off.

_"Don't!"_ Pidge screamed. "We-we can't move him until...until he can breathe r-right?" She couldn't see out her glasses anymore. "Right?"

"He's already..." Keith hiccupped and took a moment before continuing, "...he isn't going to breathe, it's already been too long."

"No." She shook her head in firm denial. "No. Not him, not Lance _he--"_

"Katie." Shiro's voice was soft and sympathetic. Pidge turned to look at him, feeling more like a child than she ever had. He gestured to Hunk, "We can still save Hunk, but we need to go. I'm sorry."

She felt torn, tears coming out of her eyes in fat globs of pain. She sniffled, her eyes wide and unseeing. Finally, the dam broke. She wailed, falling into Keith's chest. His arms wrapped around her securely, the crown of her head becoming damp with tears.

She screamed intelligible things, cursed whatever god was listening. _Why Lance? Why? Why? Why?_

Eventually, Keith helped Pidge off of the floor and held her head to his chest so she couldn't look at Lance anymore.

"Keith, I need you to help me lift Hunk," Shiro said.

Keith let go of Pidge, "Okay."

Pidge wiped her eyes though they couldn't seem to stop leaking. "We...we aren't leaving Lance are we?"

Both of them stopped moving; neither looked at her. She felt another piece of her heart fall into her stomach. "No... we can't leave him here. Shiro we can't! He-he wanted to go home and--" She curled in on herself and sobs wracked her small body once more, "--and his mom and sisters they mean--they mean the _world_ to him and we can't...we _can't_..."

Keith quietly moved to grab around Hunk's legs and didn't acknowledge the fresh tears on his cheeks as he awaited Shiro's orders. Shiro grabbed Hunk by the shoulders. "Pidge...we'll come back for him, I promise but can't afford to let Hunk die...too."

Keith and Shiro worked through the noise of her sobs. She could barely drag herself away to follow them, but she did so without looking back.

If she didn't look, she could act like Lance was following behind them. Not lying on the ground behind them, dead and alone.

~

Pidge's eyes didn't stray from the ship as they flew away, holding onto the reassurance that, at the very least, they'd be able to take him home to his family.

But she couldn't even have that, could she?

The ship was barely in sight when she saw go up into a blaze of red and oranges, destroyed. She imagined Lance's body burning up in an unfamiliar place, imagined it charring without ceremony. She couldn't find it in herself to cry anymore.

She held onto Hunk's hand, numb.

**Author's Note:**

>  **I'm taking prompts for my Bad Things Happen Bingo over on my Tumblr:** one-trigger-lullaby.tumblr.com


End file.
